Wedding Day Wish

The day is bright. A few whisps of clouds break up the monotony of blue. Breezes flow in off the cool, serene waters of the Pacific and through the open window beside me, the sheer curtains gently billowing. Standing before the full-length mirror, I ponder at the person I see before it.

Flawless white silk rains down from my shoulders in soft, silky drapes to hug the curves at my waist and then fall elegantly to a rippled puddle at my bare feet. An opal rests against my heart, the thin gold chain its hanging from permanently tarnished from age. I wear no make-up; it’s not necessary, he says. It took several years but I had learned to embrace my natural appearance. My short, dark blonde hair is pinned back in small sections with a rope of delicate white flowers circling the crown of my head.

A light knock at the door startles me and I watch as my mom and sister walk in, closing the door quietly behind them. Tears beg at the corners of my mother’s eyes while my sister smiles at me from behind her. “He’s nervous as hell,” she says satisfactorily. I choke on my chuckle and take a sip of water from the glass sitting on the table next to the mirror.

He was always fairly quiet around my family, but I knew he was truly a part of it when they had started teasing him about small things. We went everywhere together. And when he wasn’t with me, he would walk around the house like a lost puppy. It was cute, and melted my heart. Truth be told, I think it melted theirs, too.

I look back at the mirror and sigh. This day should be perfect, and by most accounts it was shaping up to be one. The weather, the ceremony, the catering… everything was on track just like she’d planned it. So why did it not feel like she’d hoped? Where was the excitement and enthusiasm?

“I brought you this.” My mom manages out of the silence. She hands me a dark blue velvet box, and the tears threaten to fall even though I had not a clue as to its contents. I open it as she fetches a Kleenex and dabs at my eyes. It was my dad’s wedding band. The sight of it alone brings back the image of those hands – oh so gentle when needed, and just as harsh when I’d deserved it. She wasn’t fast enough with the tissue, and a tear escapes down my cheek.

Quickly, and with fumbling hands, she takes it from the box and fetches the bouquet of white and pink roses from the bureau. With a thin white ribbon, the ring is wrapped around the thornless stems. I stare at it in awe and wish that for only five minutes he could be here to offer his arm and then offer me as his daughter to the man who was to give me his name.

We all turn when there's a gentle knock on the door and a soft, "Are you ready? It's nearly time."

"Yes, grandpa. You can come in." I stand there, wait for him to see me in white, wearing the necklace he'd given his wife on their wedding day. More tears fall as he wipes his palms on the front of his jacket.

In a choked whisper, "You're stunning, honey. Let's get you down that aisle, shall we? Someone's waiting for you." His smile is radiant and he holds out his arm for me as I walk toward the door.

"I know, grandpa. I just wish..."

"Wishes never come true the way you hope they will. Dream, sweetie. Dreams are your reality if you want them to be. You've dreamt of this day and now it's here... you made it happen. Dream of the life you want to create... a life your father would be happy and proud to see you live. Do that for him."

The tears fall again and he pulls out a handkerchief to wipe them away.

"Yes, grandpa." I smile up at him and we walk slowly and quietly through the beach house and to the stairs leading to the sand where everyone was waiting... where he was waiting... and where I would begin my new life.